1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a device for facilitating the dispensing of products found in collapsible tubes and the construction of a toothbrush with such a device integrated within it.
2. Prior Art
Collapsible tubes containing semi-fluid or pasty commodities such as toothpastes, creams, ointments, and the like, are dispensed by having a user forcefully exert pressure on the tube. However, the use of such a tube by the human hand alone results in the contents of the tube being dispensed unevenly, thereby leaving air pockets, and results in some of the contents of the tube being left behind, thereby resulting in some waste when one has finished dispensing the product in this fashion.
There have been many patented disclosures that are directed to facilitating dispensing product from a tube evenly and maximizing the expulsion of the contents of such tubes. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,670,876 to Clouse discloses some larger containers that house the tube entirely or partially with built in rollers or the like to evenly push the contents out of the tube from the bottom out. Although this might squeeze the contents of a tube out of the tube better than if done by free hand, it is a product that must be either mounted on a wall or stood on a table. A similar, table standing product, yet with fewer parts, is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,215,223 to Lee. However, because of the size and the number and complexity of parts involved with these devices, these devices are much more complex to manufacture and result in a greater cost than some smaller and simpler inventions that serve the same purpose.
For example, smaller products include simple winding keys that a user places at the bottom of a collapsible tube and winds upward progressively, thereby exerting pressure to force the contents of the tube to the top of the tube. These devices, being made of fewer pieces, and in some instances only one piece, are simpler to manufacture, thereby also costing less. Some such devices are described in U.S. Pat. No. 1,257,609 to Johnson, U.S. Pat. No. 2,820,575 to Dietz, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,167,348 to Okami et al. The device shown in U.S. Pat. No. 1,257,609 to Johnson is most practical in that it is a simple one-piece key that is used to roll up the tube.
Regardless of which of these prior art devices a consumer uses, they all have the intent of neatly and effectively squeezing out the contents far better than a freehanded method. Thus, if every consumer would acquire and use such a dispensing tool, consumers would be able to dispense the contents of their tubes to the maximum, have more neatly wound up dispensing tubes and eliminate the waste from these collapsible containers. The use of the tool would also decrease any chance of puncturing more malleable tubes, such as those containing ointments, by being hand pushed.
However, even a device as simple as this and still as functional requires a cost to manufacture and a cost to the consumer. In addition, small winding tools could be misplaced, lost, even accidentally thrown out towards the end use of the tube""s life, thus preventing capture of a good portion of the contents of the tube that is concealed within the tube in its final wound up stage.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to afford every consumer that has product within such collapsible tubes the opportunity to be able to use a winding tool for completely dispensing product from the tube without an additional cost to the consumer.
Since the most commonly found collapsible tube in one""s household is a toothpaste tube, one would use a winding key, if available, most frequently on toothpaste tubes. Thus, the present invention comprises a winding tool built into the handle portion of a toothbrush, as will be described in preferred embodiments below.
Because a tube of toothpaste and a toothbrush go hand in hand, having a winding tool within the toothbrush would encourage one to use the tool for extracting toothpaste from the tube. Furthermore, a separate, additional item such as a winding key need not be acquired, nor need it take up any more space in one""s drawer or other compartment. Having a winding tool on a toothbrush would enable the winding tool to be easily located for use on other tube-dispensed substances, since a toothbrush is generally used daily by consumers and not often misplaced.
It is a further purpose of this invention to have the winding key easily slip onto and off of a rolled up tube without the user having to uncurl the tube to start the expelling process again. This will enable one to use the toothbrush portion for brushing of teeth or to use the winding tool key portion on a plurality of tube like dispensers in various stages of use.
It is a further purpose of the invention for the user to have a winding key tool in his possession even after the user considers the toothbrush to which it is integrated no longer usable and discards it.
It is a further purpose of this invention to offer a winding key device with detachable and attachable accessories such as other brush heads, tooth picking utensil, string floss attachment, tongue scraper, etc. In addition, the user may simply use the winding key part of the toothbrush independently.
A new mold with my integrated design of the winding tool would not cost a manufacturer any more than the typical tooling cost for the conventional toothbrush. The option of acquiring a winding tool gratis with the purchase of a toothbrush can now be offered to the consumer, making such a toothbrush with an integrated winding tool more favorable over others with similar cost.